Press management: Must promote the responsibility of the governing body

“We must emphasize the responsibility of the newspaper's governing body. In reality, there are governing bodies that, after establishing a newspaper, are unable to manage it and even financially depend on it.”

The Committee for Culture, Education, Youth and Children held its 7th meeting (Photo: ND)

After a period of monitoring in the press field, the Commission's monitoring team pointed out a number of shortcomings that still exist, such as the situation of copying news and articles between newspapers without permission, and from one wrong newspaper, leading to a series of mistakes, especially in the field of electronic newspapers.

The correction and reporting of false information later has not been carried out seriously, because when the article is published, it is given a big headline and placed in a prominent position, but when it is corrected, it is placed in a hidden corner, with few people paying attention. In addition, although there is a regulation on speaking, the implementation of the task of providing information to the press is still formal and not binding...

Through the monitoring process, historian Duong Trung Quoc was pleased that the monitoring team's opinions were very close to those of the state management unit - the Ministry of Information and Communications. According to the historian, the implementation of monitoring will have a positive impact on the upcoming completion of the amendment of the Press Law, with very big changes, closely linked to our management capacity.

National Assembly Deputy Duong Trung Quoc said that a number of issues need to be resolved, especially press planning, the general orientation must be consistent with the Constitution, ensuring the people's freedom of speech, if well planned, it will be effective. To ensure people's freedom, according to Mr. Quoc, the Law on Access to Information must be promulgated soon.

Besides, the management of the press sector also raises the issue of saving social resources. Mr. Duong Trung Quoc cited the field of radio and television, although it has been mentioned many times, the infrastructure is still wasteful.

“Is it necessary for the central station to have branches in the locality? In the same area, having both the central station and the local station will only compete in advertising without bringing much benefit to the people. Is it necessary to build a TV tower when we are about to replace the technology? If building a tower is to ensure tourism and sightseeing, that is not the job of television, it will only cause waste.”

National Assembly Deputy Duong Trung Quoc raised and suggested that when amending the Press Law, we need to look straight at this truth to overcome it according to a roadmap.

Referring to financial issues, a leader of a province shared with the press that he is facing many difficulties. Through contact with a resident reporter, this leader said that, in addition to the task of reporting news and content as requested, reporters are also assigned to distribute and advertise locally.

“Some reporters say their salaries and incomes depend on local newspaper circulation. Even on special occasions, local leaders constantly receive phone calls asking about advertising, and even have threatening attitudes. If all reporters are satisfied, it will be very difficult for the locality.”

To alleviate this situation, he suggested that the National Assembly and the Government reorganize and reduce local magazines and newspapers and pay more attention to investing funds to reduce pressure on the press.

Although the survey results have fully stated the limitations and weaknesses, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan also said that when evaluating, it is necessary to distinguish between official newspapers and non-newspaper electronic information sites. In fact, with 838 newspapers and magazines, the number of newspapers that receive the most complaints is only about ten.

According to Deputy Minister Tuan, we often talk about the responsibility of the press agency, of the directing agency, but few people talk about the responsibility of the managing agency: "We must emphasize the responsibility of the managing agency. In reality, there are managing agencies that, after establishing a newspaper, cannot manage it, and even depend financially on that newspaper" - Deputy Minister Tuan stated the current situation.

The Deputy Minister of Information and Communications also said that many contents of the current press law are no longer suitable and need to be amended, such as the management between radio and television and print media at the local level still overlaps. Then there are cases of appointing managers who do not have journalism experience. Therefore, the press law needs to clearly stipulate how many years of working in the industry are required to be leaders of press agencies...

According to infonet